Week of May 7th ? 14th 2009
By: David Stephens of WrestleView.com
Ousta! Welcome back to the only WrestleView column covering topics both nowhere yet everywhere at once. If you are new to the column you are probably going to hate us for the first couple weeks, but then you are going to hit a point where you say ?oh wait a minute, I think he gets it?. Don?t worry, that’s exactly how it is designed to be. This column is all about gut reactions and traveling thoughts. As the great Andy Kaufman once said: ?I just want real reactions. I want people to laugh from the gut, be sad from the gut, or get angry from the gut?.
What’s in the News?
All news is taken from the WrestleView news archives
In recent weeks both NFL Steelers? Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and rapper Eminem have been spotted wearing Rey Mysterio masks
– it was truly entertaining to read the comments on the news article posted when Eminem was wearing the mask. The comments by his fans commenting on the mask, most who didn?t have a clue who Rey Mysterio is, were incredibly amusing. Apparently said gossip article equated him wearing the mask to him emulating Michael Jackson’s children
PWInsider is reporting that Miss April (April Jeanette), a 22-year-old New Jersey talent, has been signed by WWE for a developmental deal at the end of their FCW tryouts this weekend.
– alright I personally got a solid chuckle at this report. Miss April wrestled for WSU in New Jersey and I pretty much fell in love with her* at first sight. In fact I?m very confident that I am the first person to ever make her a sign for a show. It read ?I Miss April Every Month?, clever if I don?t say so myself. The reason I?m pretty sure I?m the first to make her a sign is because the WSU shows I?ve been at have only had like 25-30 people NONE of which had signs
(*massive exaggeration?kinda)
Eric Bischoff stated on his Twitter page that WWE recently contacted both Ted Turner and former WCW Executive Bill Shaw to take part in the company’s upcoming “Rise and Fall of WCW” DVD. Bischoff said that both Turner and Shaw declined the offer. He stated recently on his Twitter page that he also turned down an invite from WWE to take part in the DVD
– Can?t really say I blame any of them for not wanting to be involved. If I?m to offer a guess, the WWE did this knowing they would say no, but now then can at least say that they offered to let them tell their side. It is a shame because I actually would really have liked to hear their thoughts
Stephanie McMahon held a meeting with the wrestlers at the last TV tapings and told them that the company is now looking to make new stars, that nobody will be held back and that they want everyone working as hard as they can to achieve success. The company also reportedly encouraged wrestlers to come up with ideas for their character and storylines, which is a huge change of pace considering the way things work is that unless you are a top guy, suggestions from midcard talent are generally looked at as being annoying.
– I?m fairly certain that if Paul London was still with the WWE that they still would ignore most of his suggestions. By the time he left I really have to believe that they thought the guy was crazy. In an interview he talked about the time he tried to suggest a Velocity PPV. Haha, this is further proof of why I love London, but he is crazy
WWE’s tour of Mexico in late May is back on
– leave it to Vince to lay the smack down on the swine flu!
The main reason Gregory “Hurricane” Helms is working as a backstage announcer for ECW is because he is currently injured and not ready to return to the ring at this time.
– what’s up wit dat? Nah, this is fine with me. Rather have him on TV in some fashion than just sitting at home
John Cena’s ?12 Rounds? will be released on DVD June 30th. It will be an ?Extreme Cut? which includes 2 alternate endings and more bonus material!
– no, I?m not joking
After taking a lengthy period of time off due to a shoulder injury, Mr. Kennedy returned to the ring this past Thursday at the Florida Championship Wrestling television taping.
– hopefully this means that he is only a couple weeks away from returning to WWE TV
Undertaker is taking time off to rest both his knees and potentially undergo a hip surgery
– I really have a lot of respect for the guy for still giving everything he can. I was reading a report about how all weekend leading into Wrestlemania he kept his knees wrapped in ice so that he could perform to his fullest potential
According to a report by The Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online, former WWE star Paul London sent a text message to the promoter of a convention in Newark, CA yesterday that read, “Would it mess up your convention if I no-show this weekend?”
– this is just adding to the list of things that is causing me to have a bit of falling out with my love for Paul London. I?ll be doing a piece on it in a couple weeks. I want to see where the next couple of weeks/months take him before I write it up
According to a report by PWInsider, TNA sources have indicated that the company is currently in the process of signing former X Division Champion The Amazing Red to a new deal after his return a few weeks ago on Impact teaming with current X Division Champion Suicide.
– see my thoughts from the article directly above this one
Screw it. TIMEOUT
Here’s why I?m a bit peeved at my boy Paul London at the moment. Forget about all of the TNA happenings from a couple of weeks ago, that doesn?t really make me all that upset. I have respect for whatever the guy chooses to do. But I feel like he is being a bit fickle at the moment, and as such not really being clear to his fans what his intentions are for the future.
I?m a huge London fan as all of you no doubt know by now. As a fan I would frequently check fanssites during his time in the WWE. After he was released a couple of them (including my personal favorite) closed because they knew there wouldn?t be enough news to justify paying for the costs of running a site. The reason for this is because London gave the impression that he was going to be taking a break from wrestling for awhile. Not just the 90 days dictated by the contract clause of a WWE star; instead we believed that an actual career shift was in the works. There was talk about perhaps moving out to LA and taking some acting classes. Apparently London has had a long time interest in being a stunt actor for movies and such. I have no problem with this whatsoever. Heck, I?d watch the movies just for the chance of catching a glimpse of the guy.
But plans seemed to have changed. Much to my surprise, London began announcing shows in both the United States and Europe alike. This once again ignited a certain pride and fandom in my heart. I honestly am more of a fan of the work he did in the Indy’s than in the WWE. This isn?t to suggest that he didn?t have great moments in the WWE. In particular his feud with Kidman and his matches against Akio were spectacular. Ah but I?m getting off track, this is a topic for another day (next week most likely).
Here we are a couple of months later and I?m almost more unsure of where his future is headed than when he left the WWE. At least I had come to accept that he wouldn?t be wrestling and moving on to other things, now I don?t have a clue.
Really what set this whole thing off in my mind is that one of my local Indy promotions has contacted him about coming in, and has been since he was released. It’s not that he turned them down; it’s that he simply hasn?t replied at all. I?m completely biased as of course I?d want to see him at a venue within 2 hours from where I live, but also because this promoter is already bringing Teddy Hart in (who was awesome last weekend at the show I attended) and sees the potential draw of the London v. Hart match. Quite frankly that is my Indy dream match.
Every other wrestler under the sun seems to have a blog of some sort, is it really asking that much for a paragraph every couple of weeks to let his fans know what is going on?
Anyways?
?Back to the news
The WWE deal between “The View” co-host Sherri Shepard and MVP was a cross-promotion deal put together by Robert Zimmerman who was hired by WWE in December as Vice President of Public Relations and Corporate Communication. Zimmerman reportedly had some good connections and “The View” was really looking to boost Shepard and figured this was a great way to do it. WWE got plenty of publicity out of the deal and were obviously very happy about that.
– Smackdown is the show that I tend to miss most of each week just because of scheduling and so I have to admit that I still don?t really get this whole angle
Vince McMahon reportedly wants all announcers to be colorless in the idea that they aren’t the stars of the show and that the wrestlers are
– not so sure how I feel about this one. I mean the commentator’s are the only consistent elements that are present for the entire show week after week. This seems like a lofty proposal and seems pretty unrealistic in practice
The next few months in WWE have been described as a rebuilding period where the company will try to make new stars reports The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The expectation in the company is that as this takes place they are expecting ratings to drop a little. There are said to be plans in place to bring in more developmental wrestlers from FCW and start them with a purpose as opposed to just putting them on TV and hoping it works out. There has also been discussion about setting a rule where respective creative writers are to only worry about a limited amount of wrestlers on the brand they work for so that it will allow them to do more things with newer talent. Whether or not that will take place remains to be seen. One big expectation is that with four TV shows a week (Raw, ECW, Superstars and Smackdown) and the possibility of a fifth being added is that more of the shows will become very wrestling-heavy.
– I recently purchased and watched the Vince Russo shoot interview that RF Video did a couple years back. Love him or hate him there are some points that he made which I feel are universal. Russo is a strongly against ?writing by committee?. He feels it is much more effective for the writers to actually get to know the wrestlers and as such create moments and story lines that will reflect the superstars and be more successful. I think the WWE having writers focus on just a few wrestlers is a step in a positive direction
Ratings
WWE RAW ? 3.3
ECW on Sci-Fi ? 1.1
TNA Impact ? 1.2
WWE Smackdown ? 1.9
WWE Stock Update
Week Ending May 8th 2009
Open ? 10.83
Close ? 11.65
Low ? 10.83
High ? 11.99
Quick Results
RAW
-Shane McMahon?def. The Legacy in a 3-on-1 Handicap Match by disqualification
-Unified WWE Tag Team Champion Carlito def. The Brian Kendrick
-Ted DiBiase def. Batista by disqualification
-Mickie James def. Divas Champion Maryse in a non-title match
-Cody Rhodes def. United States Champion MVP by count-out?in a non-title match
-Kofi Kingston def. Matt Hardy
-WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon ended in a no-contest
ECW
-Evan Bourne def. Tyson Kidd
-Vladmir Kozlov def. local competitor
-Jack Swagger & Mark Henry def. ECW Champion Christian & Tommy Dreamer
WWE Superstars
-Santina Marella & Kelly Kelly def. Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes
-Finlay def. Zack Ryder
-Chris Jericho def. John Morrison
TNA Impact
-Suicide def. Consequences Creed w/Jay Lethal
-Handicap Match: Matt Morgan def. Main Event Mafia Security (Big Sal and Rocco)
-Stretcher Match: Awesome Kong w/Raisha Saeed def. Velvet Sky w/Angelina Love
-10-Man Tag Team Match: Main Event Mafia (Sting, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, & Booker T.) w/Jenna & Sharmell def. ?King of the Mountain? Jeff Jarrett, ?The Phenomenal? AJ Styles, ?Samoan Submission Machine? Samoa Joe, ?Fallen Angel? Christopher Daniels, & ?Hardcore Legend? Mick Foley
Smackdown
-Mike Knox def. R-Truth
-Michelle McCool def. Gail Kim
-John Morrison def. Charlie Haas
-CM Punk def. World Heavyweight Champion Edge (count-out) (Non-title) ?
-Eve defeats Layla (Cryme Tyme’s Hand Slammin’ Jammy Jam Challenge)
-The Great Khali def. Dolph Ziggler (Disqualification)?
-Jeff Hardy def. Chris Jericho
Must Read WrestleView Column of the Week
Baiamonte’s Casa #14 by: Joe Baiamonte
His column is an intriguing, if not gruesome, look at the best blade jobs in Pro-Wrestling history. I?m a sucker for Ultraviolent and Deathmatch wrestling so I personally enjoyed the piece. Definitely not for the weak of heart
Loose Ends
I?m finally done with my finals and thus I?m home for school. Sorry that this report is a day late but I was moving home last night
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So ?that’s a wrap??. Love it? Hate it? Disagree with everything I said? Just want to chat wrestling? I?m always up for reading your thoughts so send them ?em on over.